Fulgrash
Fulgrash (Full-Gr-Ash),' '''or '''Furnace Forged' in common, is a hobgoblin presiding over the armies of the the Chosen Battalion. He once served as the Chosen Commander's right hand, but ever since the Chosen Commander went silent he has slowly regressed into isolation, leaving his people to fend for themselves. He is played by the user Delemis. Appearance Personality Beliefs Fulgrash is a firmly established Bandosian, and believes that Bandos is both immortal and omnipotent; that he is not dead, nor will he ever be, and that he created the entire universe in order to perpetuate warfare. under Fulgrash, the Chosen Battalion's priesthood has flourished to the point that it rivals the established military hegemony which Fulgrash presides over. Although at one time he adopted the polytheistic Bandosian beliefs of his own tribe, he has mostly abandoned them in favor of the monotheistic beliefs which are dominant in a new, Sixth Age atmosphere where gods walk the earth. Fulgrash is obsessed with the prophecy of the Chosen Commander, and has sworn to uphold it even with his dying breath. As the Chosen Commander Gorbuk falls silent, Fulgrash prays for his return so that the Chosen Battalion may return to it's former glory. Skills and traits Possessions This list details all of Fulgrash's possession of note; things with sentimental or monetary value. Ceremonial helm: '''A personalized helmet worn to denote Fulgrash's status as leader of the Chosen Battalion's armies under the Chosen Commander himself. '''Ancient mace: An ancient goblin mace infused with the holy power of Bandos in ancient times; unearthed in the Great Dig during a time before Fulgrash joined the Battalion, and given to him by the Chosen Commander to signify his position as macebearer. Adamant longsword: 'Granted to him by Yokrad during the Battalion civil war for his service; one of the two adamant longswords that Yokrad is known to have wielded before his supposed ascension. '''Ourg tooth necklace: '''Made from the teeth of the Ourg Champion whom Fulgrash slew in battle during the Kyzaj tournament to decide the Chosen Commander's new right hand. '''White Full Helm: '''Fulgrash's first helmet. Obtained off of the corpse of a White Knight whom he killed. Used to this day. '"Red Herald": A medal awarded to White Knights for exceptional bravery on the battlefield. Stolen by Fulgrash from the same White Knight who he killed for his helmet. White halberd: '''Also recovered from the knight's corpse; used by Fulgrash to increase his already large reach. '''Jaslie (Jazz-Lee) the Boar: '''Fulgrash's boar mount; her name means "Eternal companion" in his own language. '''History Childhood Adulthood The skirmish As time went on, the Goblin workforce grew increasingly agitated as the Regency forced treaties on the tribes living outside the city limits, forcing them further north while their land was claimed for Asgarnia. This strike eventually came to a head when a small band of armed goblins struck out against the Faladian guard as they were brutalizing one of the protesters. This skirmish climaxed in the death of a white knight Peacekeeper at the hands of Fulgrash himself. More White Knights swiftly arrived to supplement the Faladian guard and drove the rioters from the city with ease. Once the rebellion had been driven away, significant penalties were incurred upon the goblin workforce, as well as increased animosity and persecution from the general populace. Recruitment Second Battle of Axe Pass Fulgrash saw his first real battle during the second siege of Axe Pass, where Battalion soldiers lead by the Hobgoblin Macebearer Steeltooth attempted to gain access to Troll Country via a route carved through the side of the mountains into the Wilderness. A band of trolls lead by their cheftain, Axe, had claimed dominion over the passage, and were holding out despite the Battalion's best efforts. After the Lieutenant Rumblegut had failed in the first attempted siege, the job was handed over to Steeltooth. Although Steeltooth's initial strategies proved ultimately ineffective, his forces were eventually victorious, with Axe dead and his followers retreating into the heart of the mountains to regroup. Although many of Steeltooth's company died, and morale was stunted greatly as a result, their victory at the battle allowed the Battalion access into western Troll Country, which proved to be a huge advantage in the coming days of the war; it was also a learning experience for Fulgrash that sticks with him to this day. The battle of Gunnarsgrunn The Pillaging of Catherby The Battle of Karamja Siege of the Armadylean compound Some time after the conquest of Axe Pass and the conclusion of the Bandosian-Armadylean conflict, Fulgrash, still a grunt, became part of a small taskforce lead by Steeltooth to investigate the disappearance of a Battalion scouting party who were scouting out an old hideout carved into the side of the mountains when they dissapeared. They formed ranks, descending into the cavern through an ancient stone staircase and proceeding as carefully as they could manage before being broken into chaos by the arrival of a large, undead club wielding troll; but a herald to hordes of zombies, some of which were even resurrected Battalion scouts. Fulgrash and his fellow grunts were able to brave their fears of the unnatural, and repel the undead with ease; that is, until they came across an abnormality. Two Armadyleans, fleeing (as they always do, Fulgrash noted) from a horde of undead the size of which made even the battle hardened Bandosians unsure of themselves. Finally, after deliberating on it, Steeltooth's band launched into hot pursuit of the Armadyleans, killing off most of the undead with a well timed ceiling collapse and mopping up the remnants before continuing onward. Finally, they came upon an Armadylean compound, concealed within the depths of the dungeon and guarded by a portcullis; it was there that they came upon the two Armadyleans begging for mercy. They received none. Steeltooth left his band to guard the entrance and returned the next day with reinforcements, ready to clear out the sanctuary and avenge their scouting party on the hapless Armadyleans. They tore down the portcullis and charged inside, only to be caught in an Armadylean ambush from both sides, killing many, leaving only Steeltooth, Fulgrash and a few others. Demoralized but not altogether defeated, those few who remains managed to repel the Armadylean archers with many well placed arrows of their own, only to fend off the ensuing advances of a cleanup crew consisting of a dozen malnourished, demoralized, under-equipped warriors who were easily dispatched. After interrogating one of the survivors, and learning that what remained of the scouting party had been imprisoned, they set off deeper into the compound and encountered a more organised defense, consisting of two elite units, six troops each in a turtle formation from which a single archer fired off arrows at the Bandosians. In spite of the odds being against them, the Bandosians were able to prevail by whittling down each individual formation, sowing discord among their number and leaving them susceptible to attack. While Fulgrash was busy leading this effort, Steeltooth separated from the main group to free the prisoners, returning shortly thereafter with a pair of trolls whom came in from the rear and mopped up what remained of the now disorganized Armadyleans. Continuing on to the final chamber, they came across a mysterious individual wielding some sort of glowing artefact, accompanied by two aviansie bodyguards. One of the aviansie picked up Fulgrash and threw him across the room, incapacitating him on impact. Both aviansie were killed, and the strange man commited suicide in an explosion of light which killed all except Fulgrash, Steeltooth, an ogre and the two troll prisoners. They departed with some form of mysterious metal shard, imbued with magical power, whose origin and use are currently unknown. The Tournament Siege of Dad's Shame Shortly after being elected by Kyzaj as the Chosen Commander's right hand, Fulgrash opted to finalize the Battalion's claim of Troll Country. Pushing west from Axe Pass, Fulgrash's forces eventually came upon Dad's Shame, an encampment, situated in a small gorge and surrounded by stone walls, housing several notorious troll generals who were convening to cooperate in the defense of their homeland. These leaders, headed by the infamous troll general Fortress, found themselves boxed inside as Fulgrash lead the Battalion's armies in surrounding the encampment. After attempts to starve them out proved unsuccessful, Fulgrash opted to force them out by using the Anchor, a prototype weapon developed by the ogre engineer Kor'Gall and conceptualized by himself, to tear a hole through the wall of the encampment, from which Battalion throwers and archers fired down upon the hapless trolls and herded them towards the narrow pass carving up the side of the gorge. There, Fulgrash had put in place a shield wall to congest traffic, supported from above by more Battalion archers, as well as halberdiers and berserkers, who caused chaos amongst the trolls as they fought desperately to escape the bottleneck. Those trolls who remained fled into the caves, where Fulgrash had put in place a second bottleneck, trapping them. In a desperate last stand, the trolls, lead by general Fortress, charged out of the caves and managed to put up a good fight before being obliterated, leaving only Fortress to stand in the wake of his devastated armies. It was then that Fulgrash challenged Fortress to a one-on-one; although he fought bravely, the battle ended with Fortress squeezing the hobgoblin between his fingers. Although Fulgrash suffered great injury at Fortress hand, he survived and lived on to continue operations at the Chosen Commander's behest. Fortress went on to fight Gorbuk atop the mountain of Trollheim, being easily defeated and imprisoned in Fulftheim keep. Most of the surviving trolls were bound only by honour, and pledged their fealty as soon as they had caught wind of Fortress' defeat. The remaining nationalists were small in number, and without a leader they were condemned to silence. Siege of Glen Inverlilly and repelling the Macfirthane Over the course of the conquest of Troll Country, the Chosen Battalion had interactions with the many roving mountain tribes of Troll Country. Humans, Dwarves, and Trolls alike would all encounter them at some point or another. While Dwarves tended to be hunted down, killed or enslaved, humans and trolls were often recruited into the rank-and-file to serve in a war where the casualty rate was high. Those trolls who were not affiliated with Fortress' nationalist movement would often accept the Chosen Battalion with open arms, or otherwise offer fealty on the occasion of their chieftain's death. On the other hand, Humans often had to be pounded into submission by Battalion forces before they were willing to submit their fealty, and even then most of them were enslaved on suspicion of being traitors or deserters. Among the human tribes, only a few were able to withstand the wrath of a full-blown invasion for very long, but considered one of these tribes as well as the most prestigious among them was Clan Macfirthane, lead by the proud chieftain Malcolm Macfirthane. Taking up residence in westernmost Troll Country, the Macfirthanes would only come into contact near the end of the war, when the Battalion were making their final push from the Wilderness and Fortress' nationalists were on their last legs, allowing Fulgrash's troops to pass through their westward routes unhindered. The two factions first met on the battlefield, after the Battalion issued a statement demanding the tribe's immediate surrender. At first, the Macfirthanes were able to pick off Battalion war-parties through the use of guerrilla warfare tactics, using the geography to their advantage. Soon enough, however, Fulgrash wisened up and began deploying geomancers in two man teams, patrolling commonly used Battalion routes and protecting from encroaching guerrilla fighters. This tactic proved to be extremely effective, as geomancers stripped the Macfirthane fighters of their geographic advantage and forced them into a retreat to their home territory of Glen Inverlilly. Through his geomancers, Fulgrash discovered that Glen Inverlilly was under protection of a large wall, erected for them by Camelites to the South. He charged his most esteemed geomancer, shaman and cousin Wenkaurg with the destruction of the wall and the siege of Inverlilly. When Wenkaurg arrived, he and his other fellow shamans took position atop a nearby mountain and began to fire upon the wall with, bringing it down with their knowledge and manipulation of geomancy before bombarding the village with a torrent of earth spells. When the bombardment finally ceased, Wenkaurg ordered a cleanup crew among the wreckage of the village to put an end to any survivors. Upon arrival, the cleanup crew was caught in a blast of fire as the village turned out to be completely evacuated and rigged to blow. Upon hearing of what had occured, Fulgrash thought this disastrous turn of events to be some form of divine retribution for Wenkaurg's dishonorable tactics, and had the geomancers responsible flogged before Bandos' shrine. He also exiled his cousin, forcing him to travel to the Temple of Mud and receive a pardon from the high priest before being allowed back among the Chosen Battalion. Trivia Category:Hobgoblins Category:Warrior Category:Bandosian Category:Commander Category:Lawful Category:Evil Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Military Category:Warlord